Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock, any of a class of rocks that result from the alteration of preexisting rocks in response to changing environmental conditions, such as variations in temperature, pressure, and mechanical stress, and the addition or subtraction of chemical components. The preexisting rocks may be igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks.

The word metamorphism is taken from the Greek for “change of form”; metamorphic rocks are derived from igneous or sedimentary rocks that have altered their form (recrystallized) as a result of changes in their physical environment. Metamorphism comprises changes both in mineralogy and in the fabric of the original rock. In general, these alterations are brought about either by the intrusion of hot magma into cooler surrounding rocks (contact metamorphism) or by large-scale tectonic movements of Earth’s lithospheric plates that alter the pressure-temperature conditions of the rocks (regional metamorphism; see alsoplate tectonics). Minerals within the original rock, or protolith, respond to the changing conditions by reacting with one another to produce a new mineral assemblage that is thermodynamically stable under the new pressure-temperature conditions. These reactions occur in the solid state but may be facilitated by the presence of a fluid phase lining the grain boundaries of the minerals. In contrast to the formation of igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks do not crystallize from a silicate melt, although high-temperature metamorphism can lead to partial melting of the host rock.

Because metamorphism represents a response to changing physical conditions, those regions of Earth’s surface where dynamic processes are most active will also be regions where metamorphic processes are most intense and easily observed. The vast region of the Pacific margin, for example, with its seismic and volcanic activity, is also an area in which materials are being buried and metamorphosed intensely. In general, the margins of continents and regions of mountain building are the regions where metamorphic processes proceed with intensity. But in relatively quiet places, where sediments accumulate at slow rates, less spectacular changes also occur in response to changes in pressure and temperature conditions. Metamorphic rocks are therefore distributed throughout the geologic column.

Because most of Earth’s mantle is solid, metamorphic processes may also occur there. Mantle rocks are seldom observed at the surface because they are too dense to rise, but occasionally a glimpse is presented by their inclusion in volcanic materials. Such rocks may represent samples from a depth of a few hundred kilometres, where pressures of about 100 kilobars (3 million inches of mercury) may be operative. Experiments at high pressure have shown that few of the common minerals that occur at the surface will survive at depth within the mantle without changing to new high-density phases in which atoms are packed more closely together. Thus, the common form of SiO2, quartz, with a density of 2.65 grams per cubic centimetre, transforms to a new phase, stishovite, with a density of 4.29 grams per cubic centimetre. Such changes are of critical significance in the geophysical interpretation of Earth’s interior.

In general, temperatures increase with depth within the Earth along curves referred to as geotherms. The specific shape of the geotherm beneath any location on Earth is a function of its corresponding local tectonic regime. Metamorphism can occur either when a rock moves from one position to another along a single geotherm or when the geotherm itself changes form. The former can take place when a rock is buried or uplifted at a rate that permits it to maintain thermal equilibrium with its surroundings; this type of metamorphism occurs beneath slowly subsiding sedimentary basins and also in the descending oceanic plate in some subduction zones. The latter process occurs either when hot magma intrudes and alters the thermal state of a stationary rock or when the rock is rapidly transported by tectonic processes (e.g., thrust faulting or large-scale folding) into a new depth-temperature regime in, for example, areas of collision between two continents. Regardless of which process occurs, the result is that a collection of minerals that are thermodynamically stable at the initial conditions are placed under a new set of conditions at which they may or may not be stable. If they are no longer in equilibrium with one another under the new conditions, the minerals will react in such a way as to approach a new equilibrium state. This may involve a complete change in mineral assemblage or simply a shift in the compositions of the preexisting mineral phases. The resultant mineral assemblage will reflect the chemical composition of the original rock and the new pressure-temperature conditions to which the rock was subjected.

Because protolith compositions and the pressure-temperature conditions under which they may be placed vary widely, the diversity of metamorphic rock types is large. Many of these varieties are repeatedly associated with one another in space and time, however, reflecting a uniformity of geologic processes over hundreds of millions of years. For example, the metamorphic rock associations that developed in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America in response to the collision between the North American and African lithospheric plates during the Paleozoic are very similar to those developed in the Alps of south-central Europe during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic collision between the European and African plates. Likewise, the metamorphic rocks exposed in the Alps are grossly similar to metamorphic rocks of the same age in the Himalayas of Asia, which formed during the continental collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Metamorphic rocks produced during collisions between oceanic and continental plates from different localities around the world also show striking similarities to each other (see belowRegional metamorphism) yet are markedly different from metamorphic rocks produced during continent-continent collisions. Thus, it is often possible to reconstruct tectonic events of the past on the basis of metamorphic rock associations currently exposed at Earth’s surface.

Metamorphic variables

Metamorphism results from a complex interplay between physical and chemical processes that operate on a scale ranging from micrometres (e.g., fine mineral grain sizes, thickness of intergranular fluid, diffusion distances for chemical species) to tens or hundreds of kilometres (e.g., crustal thickness, width of collision zone between lithospheric plates, depth to subducting plate). Despite this wide range and the many processes involved in the recrystallization of sedimentary and igneous protoliths into metamorphic rocks, there are relatively few variables that effect metamorphic changes. Those of greatest importance are temperature, pressure, and the original chemical composition of the protolith; each is briefly discussed below.

Temperature

Temperatures at which metamorphism occurs range from the conditions of diagenesis (approximately 150–200 °C) up to the onset of melting. Rocks of different compositions begin to melt at different temperatures, with initial melting occurring at roughly 650–750 °C in rocks of granitic or shaley composition and approximately 900–1,200 °C in rocks of basaltic composition. Above these temperatures, metamorphic processes gradually give way to igneous processes. Hence, the temperature realm of metamorphism spans an interval of about 150–1,100 °C and is strongly dependent on the composition of the protolith.

The temperature at any point within Earth’s crust is controlled by the local heat-flow regime, which is a composite function of heat flow upward from the mantle into the crust, heat generated by radioactive decay in nearby regions of the crust, heat transported into the crust by silicate melts, and tectonic transport of hot or cold rocks at rates faster than those needed to maintain thermal equilibrium with the surrounding rocks. The temperature gradient at any location in the Earth, known as the geothermal gradient, is the increase in temperature per unit distance of depth; it is given by the tangent to the local geotherm. The magnitude of the geothermal gradient thus varies with the shape of the geotherm. In regions with high surface heat flow, such as areas of active volcanism or mantle upwelling beneath thinned continental crust, geothermal gradients of 40 to 100 °C (104 to 212 °F) per kilometre (0.6 mile) prevail, giving rise to high temperatures at relatively shallow levels of the crust. Within the stable interiors of old continents, geothermal gradients of 25 to 35 °C per kilometre are more typical, and in zones of active subduction, where the relatively cold oceanic crust is rapidly transported to great depths, geothermal gradients range from 10 to 20 °C per kilometre. These large variations in geotherms and geothermal gradients give rise to different metamorphic regimes, or combinations of pressure-temperature conditions, associated with the different tectonic provinces.

In addition to the variation of geotherms as a function of position in the Earth, individual geotherms at a single location can vary with time. Geotherms are at steady state (i.e., do not change with time) in tectonically quiescent areas of Earth, such as the middle regions of large continents, and also in areas where tectonic processes like subduction have operated at similar rates over long periods. Transient geotherms, on the other hand, are generated in tectonically active regions, such as zones of continent-continent collision or rapid uplift and erosion, in which the tectonic processes are relatively short-lived; in these areas, the temperature at a given depth in the Earth is time-dependent, and individual geotherms can have very complex shapes that with time approach smooth curves. These complex geotherms can produce wide temperature fluctuations at a given depth within the Earth; rocks metamorphosed in response to these variations may show considerable textural and chemical evidence of disequilibrium, reflecting the fact that temperatures changed at rates that were more rapid than reaction rates among the constituent minerals.

Rock that has changed in composition or structure in response to changing environmental conditions is called metamorphic rock. The name metamorphic comes from Greek words meaning "change of form." Such a transformation usually results from great temperatures, pressures, or mechanical stress. Sometimes liquids and gases also act on the rock to change it. The transformation of the rock often results in apparent layering because of the separation of the minerals into distinct bands. Metamorphic rock is one of the three main types of rock, along with igneous rock and sedimentary rock.